Abstract: “Facile in-situ synthesis and characterization of stable Ag3PO4/TiO2 nanoparticles and their effectiveness for visible light photocatalysis has been reported. The surface morphology, crystal structure and chemical properties of the photocatalyst were characterized by using UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy, FSEM, XRD, XPS, TEM and nitrogen physisorption. The synthesized nanoparticles were polycrystalline with calculated energy band gap in the range of 2.3-2.5 eV. Deposition of Ag3PO4 over the surface of TiO2 resulted in stability increase and a significant shift in the UV absorption spectrum towards visible region. The photocatalytic experiments were performed under 112 W visible light irradiation (λ > 400 nm). The catalyst showed complete degradation of 15 mg/L 2-CP within 120 minutes while 92.5 % degradation of 25 mg/L 2-CP was achieved under optimized conditions. The study confirmed that Ag3PO4 /TiO2 has high potential for degradation of 2-CP from wastewater under visible-light irradiation.”

Keywords: Ag3PO4 /TiO2 nanoparticles, 2-chlorophenol, visible light photocatalysis, wastewater